UKRay

That was most kind, Tim. I'll give them a call to see if they will ship to the UK as I can't find any over here. Question for Bebah - how do you mean 'compromised the tooling' what happened exactly? I don't want it happening to me!

Mine may not be a particularly 'accurate' way of keeping a hole punch sharp but it seems to work for me unless the tool is extremely blunt or the edges are badly chipped. I just put the punch upside down in a vise and use a strip of emery cloth (however coarse you feel you need to do the job) like you might use a towel to dry your butt. I just hook it over then pull the strip from side to side against the punch and let the cloth follow the lines of the existing edge. This also has the added benefit of cleaning up and polishing the end of the punch so it cuts easier. Admittedly I only use very old 'black steel' punches but it seems to do the trick. I find it best to be careful not to drag the cloth right over the end (the sharp bit) or it will blunt the tool again pretty quickly. I do tend to strop and polish after sharpening - red jewellers rouge on a leather strop seems to work fine. I accept that if a punch has a damaged edge this isn't going to work too well but it is fine for 'running repairs'. IMHO it is a lot quicker and easier than grinding on a stone. I ought to point out that I am not an engineer and this is just my personal short cut - use it at your peril!

No, no, no, Tony - you misunderstood - the Waltons were great! I loved 'em. They were just too unreal for words and nothing really bad ever happened - and even if it did it was fixed by the end of the show. Surely that is the essence of a truly great western? The guy with the white hat turns up and the guys in black hats are all chased out of town... On a slightly different tack, but with a strikingly similar set of storylines we also had Skippy the Bush Kangaroo which was a huge favorite with my little sisters. I saw kangaroo burgers on sale in a restaurant once and just had to try a 'Skippy Burger' so I could wind them up... What happened to Skippy - is he still around? I wish I had seen Rin Tin Tin - what a great name!

Tim, what brand of canteen do you use and would you be prepared to share the name of your supplier?

Griowing up in the UK meant we didn't see all the good stuff you guys remember, but we did get Rawhide and Waggon train - Gil Favor and Rowdy Yates were childhood heros. Bonanza with the Cartwright family was also on the box over here and I never missed a John Wayne or Clint Eastwood movie. I can't honestly say I even knew of Gene Autry until much later but the Lone Ranger and Tonto featured in a lot of our games... We also had Champion the Wonder Horse - does anyone remember him? Roy Rogers and Dale? was on briefly but I didn't really get hooked. More recently, Little House on the Prarie and the Waltons (I can't help liking those old Waltons!) provided the UK's afternoon TV watchers with a healthy dose of period western TV and a sometimes rather sickly-sweet feel-good factor. I assume you all had those programmes first? Did any of them make their way 'down under'?

Nice pouches CL - Interesting decoration technique - are you using embossing plates?

My punch was 'blacksmith' made more years ago than I care to think. I don't think it was made for guitar straps... LOL

Happy Birthday Clay Have a great day and enjoy those kids - they grow up far too fast.

It took me ages to find one the right size, Darryl. I eventually got one in a box of old saddlers tools I bought at auction and I hadn't even seen it was there. With a price tag of almost $45 I don't think I would have purchased one new given the amount of times I actually use it.

Check out this web page - the thing is called a round button hole punch over here in the UK. They do come in different shapes and sizes so make sure you get the one you need. They also work well with the little brass posts used on Sam Browne belts. http://www.bowstock.co.uk/acatalog/Punches.html

Nice sling, Dave. I really like the edge pattern you've used but I can't see it too well - my eyes ain't what they were! Be a kind gentleman and post a close up. Do you hand cut your straps? That shape is very slick.

Ed, you might want to try engineer's lathe lamps. They are as tough as old boots and I find them excellent. They often come with a magnetic base - If I haven't got a convenient machine to stick 'em on I use chunks of railway line so I can stick 'em exactly where I need the light. They come up second-hand on eBay fairly regularly and don't make huge amounts of money.

What an amazing thing - I love the idea of steampunks! A resurgence of the whole amazing steampunk culture is long overdue so don't worry about selling the mask Roo - I bet it goes like a rocket (a steam driven rocket of course!)

If you haven't already done it, go and check out the rest of those guy's work - absolutely awesum!

I think that is right Tom, sometimes creating a unique piece of work is purely down to depth of imagination. IMHO, If you can't imagine it then you definitely couldn't make it. Although stuff like this may not be our 'cup of tea', it must be given respect. I wouldn't necessarily want to own this particular piece, but I'd definitely like to have the talent (and imagination) to be able to design and make it. Thanks for posting this Roo, it has fired me up to try something vaguely along these lines - I'm looking forward to finding the time!

Thanks for this, Ed. Great idea, Bruce, but I suspect he'll think it a bit cheeky as the machine is s/h. Maybe Vernon'll take pity on me... LOL Pepin1948 - many thanks. I really am most grateful. No need to apologise for your English - I couldn't have done it in Spanish, that's for sure! If anyone has any more thoughts on this I'd really like to hear them. Thanks guys.

Love it - my kind of machine!

As the proud new owner of a second hand Weaver edge slicker I am keen to see it start work as soon as possible. One slight problem: the original US motor was 110v and we use 240v here in the UK. My question is all about the best rpm for a powered slicker - has anyone any experience of this? Is slower better than faster? I have no idea. I don't have any idea what RPM the original motor was as the thing is still in the US - can anyone help here? I need to buy a replacement motor for this machine but don't really know what to ask for - any thoughts? I'd be grateful for all the help I can get!

It may seem a silly thing to people who live in the US and deal with this all the time, but I have identified yet another whooper of a cultural difference. You guys refer to the place in which you live with just two letters - John, sorry matie but I had no idea where NH might be... I could say the same about a dozen other pairs of letters! I only know TN because I'd rather like to live there! Fortunately, I have found this site that sorts it out: http://www.usps.com/ncsc/lookups/usps_abbreviations.html - I guess I'll learn 'em all one day! All that remains is to link all the town, city and state names to places on the map...

It sounds very similar, Tony. Here in Ludlow, we do our voting in the public library - very handy if you want to do a little reference work whilst you are waiting. Other places use the village hall, local school or any other similar publicly owned building. We generally have a bunch of official looking people standing by to make sure the voting is all fair and above board but, to be honest, it is rare that anything untoward happens round here. The biggest excitement we have had in the past 12 months was when a recently refurbished Victorian public lavatory (I think that is a restroom?) got washed away in a flood - fortunately nobody was inside... There was the incident when a horse stamped through the bottom of its horsebox whilst parked in the market square - that made the front page of the local paper and another time a local council meeting turned into a fight - but as I say, nothing much of note happens round here since the 'youth problem' was locked up - he was a nice enough lad really... Sorry, I digressed horribly... IMHO, voting is not something that looms large here on the Welsh Borders. Not unless it is to appoint local councillors, in which case a short flurry of activity punctuates the general apathy. I live in a particularly poor area where jobs are scarce and wages are well below the national average. It is quite common for people only to have part time work. In general, I think local people are far too busy trying to scrape a living to get too involved in politics. Obviously we have our political zealots and professional local politicians but events in London are seen as happening a long way away and don't seem to involve us much. We are pretty remote here! Perhaps the other Brits can help out? All Marmite is now posted and gone!

Sorry if it looks weird replying to my own posts, but I need to set the record straight as J T Batchelor has finally sent me a complete pack of replacement leather, another liter of Bag Kote to replace the one that leaked and I even got the missing buckles! Okay, I had to make a string of grumpy phone calls to get it but I want to be fair here - they did come up with the goods in the end. I just wish they would get it right at the outset. If it happens to you then please complain - a lot!

Always ask what the base metal is before making a purchase. I like good solid brass or nickle plated brass buckles and have had no problems to date - but that is just me! I wouldn't touch poor quality buckles at any price... My customers are worth a lot more to me if they come back for another belt/harness or whatever. I have just (last weekend) made a belt for a guy who bought his last one from me more than twenty five years ago. We re-used the brass buckle...

I'm not sure about the provenance for some of the words on that website, RDB. There were some there I had never heard of. Anyway, it would take more than a website to unravel the nonsense I talk! Just so you know - I have one last jar of Marmite plus some delicious UK candy left... Any takers?

Nice, tough looking job, Cousin, I can recognise its saddlebag 'heritage'. It is good to see more of your work on the forum!

That really is a handsome job Luke - I may not understand much about buckskins but I know a superb piece of work when I see one. ...and if you knew what the weather was like over here, RDB, you would understand those green tights!